


beneath the sun of a dying planet

by inquisitor_tohru



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Appropriate Use of the Force, Eventual Smut, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Implied Poe Dameron/Finn, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rebuilding, Slice of Life, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:13:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24490369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru
Summary: After the Battle of Exegol, Rose accompanies Rey on a relief mission to Jakku.
Relationships: Finn & Rey (Star Wars), Rey/Rose Tico
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24
Collections: Fandom 5K 2020





	beneath the sun of a dying planet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [halfeatenmoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfeatenmoon/gifts).



Rose carefully unpicked some of the knots in the orbak's long, blue-black mane, taking in the barn's sweaty leather and dry hay scents, and decidedly ignoring the undertones of ammonia. Jannah's mount made a sort of low, rumbling sound and leaned into the touch.

"That feels nice, huh?" When the animal lowered its head in expectation, she rewarded it with a scratch behind the ear. In return, she got a "gentle" headbutt that almost knocked her down into one of the fresh bales of hay she'd brought in.

"Easy there, Ferrule, easy," she laughed, patting the orbak's behind as she went to get cleaned up. Taking care of Company 77's mounts wasn't exactly in her job description, and she knew Jannah, Forten and the others looked after their animals well. But she was more than happy to spend what little spare time she did have in the barn with good-natured Ferrule and the other orbaks...and if it gave Jannah and her people a well earned break, then that was all the better.

The sun was setting, and Rose could already hear the stirrings of the nocturnal creatures native to the Klosslands. With the galactic war simmering down to occasional skirmishes, the Resistance had been able to set up other outposts, but Ajan Kloss had been as good a place as any for their main base of operations. Despite the humid climate and the overabundance of insects, Rose had come to love that jungle moon. She was going to miss it, she realised. Well, perhaps not the insects. She'd definitely miss Ferrule, but the orbak would still be there when she returned.

Rose wasn't quite sure why Rey had requested her _specifically_ to accompany her on a relief mission to Jakku. The Jedi was almost as handy with a screwdriver as she was. _Almost._ But Rose wasn't so confident in her skills that she'd claim to be the best engineer on the base. That honour probably went to their esteemed prisoner, she thought through gritted teeth - the man formerly known as General Hux of the First Order, though now he was simply Armitage. It was quite obvious why Rey wouldn't request _his_ presence on her ship. He might have helped Finn, Poe, and Chewie, but Rose trusted him about as far as she could throw him.

The facilities on the Ajan Kloss base had been improved considerably since the "official" end of the war between the Republic and the First Order. Or the Final Order. The _bad guys,_ Rose thought with a chuckle, remembering the superhero comics she and Paige read as children. Without the expectation of a full-blown battle on the horizon, Resistance personnel could get to work on helping to rebuild infrastructure on worlds that had been occupied and exploited by the First Order. That was going to involve all sorts of things like rehousing, reestablishing trade routes, reformation of local governments...as well a lot of literal rebuilding.

Well, at least Rey could lift rocks. Before too long, Finn would be, too.

When she reached the communal showers Rose stripped down and turned the dial until the water was cool, blasting away the sweat and muck from the stables. She'd probably be covered in engine oil by the time her work for the day was done, but she figured she might as well make use of the facilities that had just been installed. Strictly for testing purposes, of course. Besides, she doubted she'd get a lot of opportunities for a _real_ shower on Jakku, where water was much more scarce.

Once she was done with all the washing and scrubbing, Rose stepped back onto the warm tiles and grabbed her towel. Resistance issue - you could tell by the frayed edges and patchwork of at least three different fabrics.

"Oh! Hi." Rose's head jerked up at the sound of the voice. Rey stood in the entrance, still fully clothed and more than a little ruffled. Rose assumed she'd been getting some last minute training in with Finn. "So, you had the same idea about the shower."

"Yeah, I'm surprised more people _aren't_ ," Rose said, wringing out her hair. "Guess old habits die hard." She gathered her clothes together, dressed herself, and patted Rey on the shoulder as she left.

* * *

Even on her way back from the showers, the blush was still creeping across Rey's freckled cheeks. After living on her own for so long, she still wasn't entirely used to the casual nudity and the crush of bodies in the Resistance barracks. Finn had adjusted far more easily than she had, and Poe had laughed, though not unkindly, when he'd seen the expression on her face after her first visit to the communal showers.

"It's just something you get used to, and then you don't really think about it anymore," he'd told her. But she was still _very much_ thinking about Rose. About how her wet skin glistened beneath the dim lights, about the way her hips moved as she shimmied into her pants, about her breasts - _especially_ about her breasts. Rey shook her head, as if that could shake off any of the distracting thoughts accosting her. It was silly, really. With the Force she could sense a lot about someone, even without attempting to delve into their mind. The way the Force ebbed and flowed around a person was something deeply personal and yet here she was, getting flustered over another human body.

As soon as she found a secluded space, Rey got herself comfortable in a cross-legged position, and began to meditate, emptying her mind of any Rose-shaped distractions and opening it up to the Force. She focused on her breathing, on anchoring herself to the here and now, and let the Force reach out to _her._ It didn't take long - the Klosslands were teeming with life. An owl lent her his sight so she might glide above the forest canopy with him, and witness its vastness. An amphibian creature she had no name for guided her consciousness through the swamps, and she licked her lips when a fat, juicy fly was spotted. There were creatures beneath the water that were almost as old as the moon itself, but the butterflies that flocked to flowers to lay their eggs would be dead before the day was done. All had lived out their entire lives on Ajan Kloss, and for each of them it was a different world, known to them in ways that the others would never comprehend.

Seeing the planet through their eyes helped Rey to recentre herself, to find that balance in the Force that Luke, and then Leia, had often spoken of. She startled as a reptile's jaws snapped shut around those fleeting memories, and lost her focus. Her time with Master Luke had been brief, and she didn't know Leia like Poe or Kaydel had done, but that didn't stop her missing them something fierce. At least when she'd visited the Skywalker homestead on Tatooine she'd had her chance to say goodbye. It was more than a lot of people had.

Her connection to each of them had been special, but her feelings about taking on the Skywalker name were still mixed. When she gave the woman on Tatooine that name, she'd merely been trying it on for size. Palpatine had never been hers, and she had no doubt that her father had slipped out from under that shadow as soon as he was able. Spent his life, and Rey's, and her mother's, running from it. But she wasn't yet sure if she could really call Skywalker hers either.

 _You know, I do just fine for myself_ without _a last name._

"You gotta stop doing that, Finn." Regardless, she smiled. What he was doing wasn't intrusive, like when Kylo Ren had forced his way into her mind, or used their Force bond against her. Finn's ability drew upon his natural disposition for empathy, and he only heard the echo of what was already there for him to interpret. In other words, her thoughts were too loud and _she_ needed to stop doing that.

"Besides," she added, unable to resist, "you know Poe would give you his in a heartbeat." She'd never felt someone blushing through the Force before, but if such a thing were possible that was _definitely_ how it would feel. Speaking of Poe...wasn't it his turn to cook tonight?

* * *

Rose inhaled the peppery scent from the wooden bowl - a hearty stew with slow-cooked chicken, sweet peppers, diced onion, chunks of tomato, and a sauce thickened with various seeds and nuts. Seasoned to perfection, of course. There was a reason everyone on the base looked forward to Poe's turn cooking. His dishes took longer to cook than most, but were always worth the wait. She barely suppressed a giggle as Rey appeared and practically tumbled into her seat, digging straight in. That girl sure loved her food. But then, Rose suspected she'd be as eager for new culinary experiences as Rey was if she'd grown up on the instant crap the scavengers on Jakku had to make do with - and after a hard day's work, too.

She and Paige hadn't always had the most luxurious ingredients on Hays Minor, but they _did_ have the luxury of loving parents who did their best to put nutritious food on the table. _Sometimes_ it even tasted good. But that was before the First Order drained the life force from the planet with their weapons tests, leaving behind a dark, soupy mist that spoiled everything it touched. Entire fields that had been filled with the crops that thrived in the planet's atmosphere lay barren, or rotten. Amongst other reasons, this was why seeing sour-faced Hux around the Resistance base made her blood boil. This was why she made a point to remind herself every day of the conversation she'd once had with Leia Organa, and what she'd passed on to Finn:

_That's how we're gonna win. Not by fighting what we hate. By saving what we love._

She and Paige hadn't been able to save their parents or their homeworld from the First Order. And then Rose hadn't been able to save Paige. But she _had_ saved Finn on Crait. Finn, Poe, Kaydel, Beaumont...though they could never replace Paige or her parents, the Resistance was her family now. She hoped that included Rey, too, enigmatic as she could be. Maybe the Jedi code stated somewhere that they all had to appear mysterious and aloof. It was why Rose enjoyed seeing her at mealtimes - for a few minutes, that mask would slip off just as easily as her roughspun Jedi robes.

"How's your saber holding up?" Rose asked. Along with just about every other engineer or tinkerer on the base, she couldn't help but be curious about the mechanics of Rey's lightsaber. Finn had let her tinker a little with his saber to see all the ins and outs and how it worked, but every kyber crystal, and therefore every lightsaber was unique. Finn's saber was a sleek silver design, emitting a single blade of clear white, whereas Rey had incorporated parts of Skywalker's damaged lightsaber, as well as her own staff, into her double-bladed design. Its kyber crystal emitted a warm, yellow glow that made Rose think of sunshine.

"It's fine." Rey hesitated a little, and prodded at a piece of meat in her stew. "If you want to have a look, you can just ask. I don't mind." She turned to Rose, grinning. "I mean, you gave Finn his back in one piece."

"It's like you read my mind. Wait... _did_ you?"

"What? No, I wouldn't-" Rose laughed, and put a reassuring hand on Rey's arm.

"Relax, I was just kidding around. I trust you, too." Rey sighed, her smile returning.

"I'm glad. And...I'm glad you're coming with me to Jakku." Rose still wasn't sure why she wanted _her_ specifically, but hearing Rey say it made her heart soar.

* * *

"See you then, Rose," said Poe. She clutched at her medallion, realising that his echo of Paige's casual pre-mission farewell was deliberate. It had been their good luck charm - until it hadn't. Hot tears prickled at the corners of her eyes and her throat as Finn bade her a wordless goodbye, enveloping her in a warm embrace. At some point, without their noticing, Poe had shuffled his way into the hug, and was waving Rey over. Rose smiled, with Finn's chin resting gently on the top of her head and a loose strand of Rey's hair tickling her cheek, and let the tears fall. This is why she and Paige had never drawn out their goodbyes - _"you're such a crybaby, Rose."_ She'd never meant it in a nasty way, but she was right. Rose had always been the more outwardly emotional of the two sisters. And now goodbyes, and especially ' _see yous'_ , always made her weepy because they made her think of Paige. Everything she wished she'd been able to say, and wouldn't have said anyway.

"Right, well...keep us updated." Poe reluctantly backed out of the hug, and Rose smiled when she noticed him still holding Finn's hand. "And don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Maybe not the _best_ parting advice, Mister _Permission-to-jump-in-an-X-wing-and-blow-something-up,_ " said Finn, and Rey snorted.

"Don't worry, Finn, that won't be happening." Rose winked a still-bleary eye. "We don't _have_ an X-wing."

"All I'm saying is that you two are pretty resourceful."

"True enough. I wouldn't be surprised if they could manage to scavenge some parts on Jakku and actually _build_ one from scratch." Poe rubbed his eyes again. Allergies. Totally allergies. "Anyway, get going - that's an _order."_

* * *

It had been different with Luke and Leia but, as a general rule, Rey was never any good at goodbyes, or even _'see yous'._ The one (and only) silver lining when Finn was still unconscious after the fight on Starkiller Base had been that their farewell was on her terms - and perhaps that had still been a little unfair, a little selfish of her. But she'd come back to her best friend, as she'd always meant to, and as he'd done for her. As they always would.

In any case, as pleasant as it was to be enveloped by her friends, she was glad to escape the group hug and get her ass back in the _Millennium Falcon's_ pilot's seat. Rey had always been about the action and the _doing._ Even on Jakku - her feet had been rooted to the planet but never ceased itching for more than endless dunes and ship graveyards. It was one of the reasons she'd found meditation so difficult in the beginning. At least in the _Falcon_ she could keep moving forward, and thanks to Rose the ship was now, well, shipshape. Or as close to shipshape as the _Falcon_ would ever be.

"How're you feeling?" It wasn't a loaded question. It never was with Rose, and Rey knew that if she said she was fine, that would be that until she was ready to talk about it. It was tempting. On the other hand, she'd _also_ managed to mentally prepare a long-winded speech about her feelings (and how she was definitely fine), just in case anyone asked. But Rose wasn't really just _anyone._

"Strange." Rose wasn't just anyone, and so she got a _different_ monosyllabic response. It wasn't that she didn't trust Rose with her feelings, or that she felt uncomfortable sharing them with her. They were just _a lot_ right now, and bottling them up became first nature after living alone for over a decade. At least she wasn't as bad as Luke Skywalker. She _really_ hoped she wasn't as bad as Luke Skywalker.

Her feelings about returning to Jakku after the war were always going to be mixed. Rey knew that. But after speaking with Finn and Jannah about their intentions to travel in search of the families they were stolen away from, she'd felt the tension in the Force, like a chain anchoring her to Jakku. Her father was a Palpatine, or at least an imitation of one - but what did that even _mean_? That didn't tell her anything about what kind of person he was. And what of her mother? She wasn't going to Jakku on a quest to learn more about her family history, but a part of her did still want that.

"Strange sounds kinda normal, given the circumstances." Rose lifted a gloved hand to push her grown out bangs behind her ear. Rey had quite liked the dark, heavy fringe she'd had when they first met, even if it wasn't quite symmetrical when you looked closely. Rose had later explained to Rey that Paige had always been the one to cut her hair. She suspected that was why Rose hadn't had a haircut in such a long time. Rey got that. She still wore her own hair the way her father had shown her (because it was the only style he knew). She used to play dejarik with her mother and still had no real desire to play a game at the table on the _Falcon_ , though it had been fun to watch Finn and Poe go up, and inevitably lose, against Chewie. (Plus, it certainly beat having to deal with Poe's backseat piloting.) Rey had only ever won one game of dejarik and she was positive that her father had let her win after she'd had a tantrum. Losing could be hard, but losing _people_ was harder.

"I don't think I really _do_ normal," Rey admitted, and Rose laughed as they entered the blue radiance of hyperspace.

"Do _any_ of us?"

* * *

Rose squinted. The sunlight seemed to be coming from every direction, and she had never seen so much sand. She was only used to Ajan Kloss' shorelines of grit and gravel - they hadn't exactly had the time for a vacation on one of Iloh's tropical beaches.

"Home sweet home," Rey joked, heaving their supplies and equipment from the _Falcon_ and loading them onto the sorry-looking landspeeder they'd hired. Even with the linen wrapped around her arms, Rose was able to admire the muscular curves of her biceps and the way they flexed as she shifted the cargo. When Rey glanced up, Rose looked down at her desert boots, blushing.

Rey had cobbled together various climate-appropriate garments for Rose to wear, most of which were rough but lightweight, and easily convertible. She was pretty sure some of them were Rey's own clothes, altered to fit her. Imitating Rey, she pulled the long scarf up over her head and wrapped the excess around the lower half of her face. Rey had warned her more than once on the journey there that if she swallowed sand she'd be coughing it up for days. Rose thought that may have been an exaggeration, but she didn't really care to find out. To complete the ensemble, she pulled on the pair of shoddily constructed goggles, and struck a pose.

"How do I look?" Rey snickered.

"Like you're ready to help me unload some of this crap?" Rose felt a little sheepish when Rey handed her what must have been the lightest case in the cargo hold.

"I might be small, but I can lift more than _that!"_ Now it was Rey's turn to look sheepish. It never ceased to amaze Rose, how expressive Rey's body language was, even obscured beneath so many layers of fabric and with most of her face concealed by her own pair of oversized goggles.

"I- sorry. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I was just trying to be nice." Rose sensed a smirk forming behind the scarf covering Rey's mouth and nose. "I apologise for insulting your honour, _Lady Tico._ " Rose laughed so hard that she coughed, and would be dealing with a snotty scarf until they reached Niima Outpost. Better that than sand, she _supposed_.

Luckily, it wasn't as long a trek as she'd feared, even with the desert winds and the sun's heat beating down on their backs. Much of the outpost was overrun by the bazaar, which must have boasted every shade of brown and beige. There were a few awning-roofed blockhouses scattered about the settlement, one of which had drawn the attention of a number of scavengers, who'd formed a bustling, less than orderly imitation of a queue. It was bigger than the other blockhouses, and to Rose's trained eye it was obvious that it was a heavily modified converted cargo crawler. Even before Rey spoke, her white-knuckled hand already gripping the hilt of her lightsaber, Rose could guess who manned this concession stand.

"So, you ready to meet the Blobfish?"

* * *

Perhaps the Crolutes didn't age as rapidly as some other species did - Unkar Plutt was precisely as Rey remembered him from their last encounter (save for a new mechanical arm). That was _not_ a compliment. Same meaty pink organic arm, raw from the dry desert heat. Same mean, beady black eyes, and that air of paranoia as he glared at the scavengers through a window barred with thin golden wires. His very own, self-built gilded cage. When Rey was younger she'd occasionally wondered if he might have been graceful, even beautiful, in the more welcoming waters of his aquatic homeworld. In the end it didn't matter to her, because what was on the inside was so repulsive and foul. Ever since she left Jakku with Finn, and again after his appearance on Takodana, she had hoped never to deal with Unkar and his thugs again. But while he controlled the trade and most of Jakku's water, his thick fingers were strangling the dying planet without him even so much as lifting one.

Behind her goggles, Rey squeezed her eyes shut as she refocused, curbing her anger as she recalled each and every time he put her to work as a child, every time he took her hard-earned scrap from her and doled out survival rations that would barely fill a skittermouse's belly. Unkar had never raised a sagging, swollen hand to her, but why bother when he could simply withhold rations? She opened her eyes and looked at Rose, who was still busy taking in the scenery. That's right - they were here to _help._ This was a quest for justice, and not vengeance...though if Unkar and his thugs suffered, she doubted she could find it in herself to pity them. She certainly hadn't felt that sorry for him when Chewie ripped his left arm off.

Rey still wasn't entirely sure what being a Jedi meant to her, but what she did know was that it had to start with helping people. Especially people who could not help themselves. She'd decided that once the radiation and pollution on Hays Minor was brought down to more manageable levels, she'd ask to accompany Rose there, to help reshape and rebuild. She'd already put in a requisition for hazmat suits and any other protective gear they might need. But right now, on Jakku, helping meant bringing an end to Unkar Plutt's tyranny.

"Need an extra _hand?"_ Rey asked, when their turn to approach the concession stand finally came. Unkar's black eyes narrowed to slits, shifted towards the laughably conspicuous hooded thugs as he weighed up his options. While Unkar himself was capable of discretion, subtlety had never been one of their strong suits.

"Depends on the hand." He drummed his mechanical fingers on a bit of junk Rey recognised as being largely useless, on its own at least. "Depends if it _fits."_ His demeanour indicated he was still sore about losing a limb, but who wouldn't be? She just wanted him to be willing to meet her halfway. She doubted that would happen, but everyone, no matter how despicable, deserved a _chance._ Even if she didn't care one bit for the way he and his thugs were eyeing up Rose. She might be small, but Rey knew that she was perfectly capable of sticking up for herself, and she'd seen the way Rose handled herself in a fight...but she couldn't help but feel a little protective of her.

Rey reached into her satchel and presented a portion of the credits she'd brought with her. Unkar eyed them hungrily, wetting his lips. Money - his one and only love. Most folks on Jakku favoured something with a little more substance, like food or materials, but Unkar had always been peculiar that way.

"Now you're speaking my language. But that won't get you much." Rey tilted her head towards Rose, who followed her cue, putting on a theatrical display of searching her satchel and turning out her pockets only to present a single credit chip. She grinned, placing it neatly on top of Rey's credit stack.

"What _will_ this get us?" Unkar smiled unpleasantly as he reached below the counter with his mechanical arm, and slapped a quarter portion into the transfer drawer. The old familiar green and beige powders. An insult, really. Rey swallowed her resentment, shook her head, and moved to scoop up their credits.

"No thanks. I'm looking for _parts,_ not what you think passes for food." Unkar snorted, and retrieved the ration packet.

"That wouldn't even get you a power converter." Rey shrugged, and took their credits back. Unkar's eyes tracked her hand as it moved towards the lightsaber at her hip, and he took the bait. "I might be able to offer you something for _that._ If it's in full working order." Rey unsheathed her saber, twin bursts of yellow erupting as she ignited it. From his expression, it was clear that he recognised the remnants of her old staff in the design, and she was willing to bet that a lot of the scavengers now watching them did, too. She spun the lightsaber a couple of times before returning it to her hip, taking Rose's hand as she turned to leave.

"Not for sale."

* * *

Even with sweaty palms, Rose savoured the feeling of Rey's hand clasping hers...as well as the way she'd wiped the smirk from Unkar's broad face. Striking a deal with the Blobfish had never been part of their plan - they just needed to be _seen_ and his concession stand was the busiest place in the settlement. While Unkar Plutt had been busy scrutinizing junk the scavengers brought him for their measly half or quarter portions, they'd been busy listening and talking. Finn had lent Rey a silver Alliance starbird pin, which she'd carefully attached to her scarf, and Rose talked with her hands, flashing her Resistance ring wherever she sensed it was welcome. It was about being seen, but more than that, it was about reminding the people here that _they_ were seen - that the Resistance had not abandoned the people of Jakku. 

And a _little_ bit of it was to let Unkar Plutt know they'd do what the hell they wanted, because _fuck_ him.

"He's going to retaliate, right?" Rey grinned wickedly and squeezed her hand, and Rose's heart skipped a beat.

"Scared?" Rose held back a snort, though she wasn't sure she'd notice or really care about getting more snot or sweat or saliva on her scarf. Not with Rey's thumb tracing small, soft circles on the back of her hand.

"As if." She missed the comforting weight of Rey's hand when they reached their crappy landspeeder, all their equipment still exactly as and where they'd left it. Rose suspected the lightsaber had _something_ to do with that. But a few scavengers hovered awkwardly around the speeder, clutching bits and pieces from their day's salvage. An old woman with leathery skin and hair like silver was the first to step forward.

"The Blobfish has been wringing out what little life this planet still has for decades now." She paused, looking back to the others with bright brown eyes. Rose recognised her as one of the scavengers she'd spoken to in the line. "I know I'm not the only one who's sick of him."

"Osha's right," said a tall man with brown skin and a shaved head. Rose thought she'd heard someone call him Ikenna earlier. He was composed, but she could sense the hurt and the anger as he spoke. "The Resistance made good on their word when they said they'd bring down the First Order - those monsters who _slaughtered_ the devotees in the sacred village like animals." _Tuanul._ Finn and Poe had both been there when Kylo Ren had given the stormtroopers the order to open fire on the villagers. In a way, it was that tragedy that had brought them together. Osha put a strong yet gentle hand on Ikenna's arm.

"Exactly. Things are changing across the galaxy. Maybe they can change here, too." Osha's lips curled into a bittersweet smile. " _I_ might not live to see this planet begin flourish, but I'll be damned if I let you _younglings_ wallow around in a junkyard forever." Some in the group chuckled and others muttered indignantly at being called _younglings_ when the youngest of them looked to be around twenty-five.

"They can _,"_ Rose said, invigorated by Osha and Ikenna's passion, "and they _will_. M-my..." She faltered for a moment, overtaken by her nerves, but then Rey took her hand again. "My own homeworld is plagued with pollution. Radiation, even, in a lot of regions. The First Order used it as a base for testing weapons, among other things. But I'm not giving up hope." Amongst the chatter, she lowered her voice so only Rey could hear her. "Finn told me about the hazmat suits you requisitioned. I wanted to thank you earlier but-"

"There's no need. It's the right thing to do - saving what we love."

"Ah, and Finn told you _that."_ A wave of awkwardness hit as Rose wondered what else Finn had mentioned to Rey. When she'd woken from her medically induced coma and the hazy memories of kissing him had resurfaced, she'd been mortified...mostly because she didn't even know if Finn had _wanted_ her to kiss him. Multiple near-death experiences had intensified the sparks of emotion between them, confusing things - not to mention the fact that almost dying could do very weird things to a person's judgement. If Rey knew anything, she didn't let on. Or maybe she'd kissed people and felt weird about it later, too, and knew it was just one of those things.

"So where do we start?" Ikenna asked, once everyone had quietened down. Rose grinned, in her element.

"We've got silicon, durasteel, wires, glass…" She glanced around, seeing blank faces, and remembered that most of these people wouldn't have had chance to build what she was talking about - Rose had no doubt that they were capable, but they were just too busy trying to _survive._ For most, that meant scavenging and scrubbing their scrap metals until they shone. Maybe fitting the odd part or two for Unkar Plutt. "We have all the parts we need to make solar panels."

* * *

While they worked, Rey reached out with the long arm of the Force, taking in the essence of the world that had been home and not-home for so many years. Faint memories and imprints of forests as lush and green as those on Takodana brushed against her consciousness. The locals, herself included, had never known much about the history of the mysterious nightwatcher worms, though there'd been a lot of speculation about their strange resemblance to the Arcona species. Most of the fully grown worms were around twenty metres long, but there were documented cases of ones that had grown to be over one hundred metres. Now, as she skirted the edges of their minds while they slept and dreamed beneath the Sinking Fields, Rey understood why they were so damn big. They were _ancient._ Beneath their hard casing, their bodies told stories of burrowing and boring not only through sand, but through foliage and wet soil, rich with minerals. Perhaps, given time and care, the planet would heal.

"Wow Osha, I hope _I'm_ that nimble with my hands someday." Rey flushed at Rose's words as her mind flew back from the Sinking Fields and dropped right into the gutter.

"I hope you have no _need_ to be," the old woman replied gently, her calloused hands moving over her materials with undeniable skill. "Even brilliant mechanics need their rest. And you deserve more than days spent hunched over parts." Rose shrugged.

"I enjoy my work."

"You're good at it, too," Osha continued, "but the way you organised us all earlier, assessed our strengths and skills - have you ever considered instruction? Teaching?" Rey listened intently and, not for the first time since meeting her, wondered exactly who Osha had been in her past life, before she wound up a scavenger on Jakku.

"I- _me,_ really? No, I...hadn't thought about it."

"Something to consider," Osha said, as casually as if she'd suggested something as simple as a new cake recipe. Rey had to agree. Rose would make a fine instructor.

Watching the scavengers work together in this quiet act of rebellion reminded Rey that sometimes it could be more difficult to take action against corruption from _within_. Jakku had engaged in open rebellion against the new threat posed by the First Order, but Unkar Plutt's reign of terror was something that had been deeply ingrained in their culture for decades. It was just the way things were, and fighting for change was harder than resisting it.

Osha broke the silence when she set aside her work and clapped her hands together.

"Sun'll be going down soon, and my eyes aren't what they used to be. Maybe one day I'll get some of those fancy ocular implants, but for now I'm going to have to call it a day."

"I think we all deserve a break," Rose agreed, taking Osha's earlier advice to heart, and Rey was not about to argue - she'd pushed herself today. She often found meditation more taxing than physical training, and so reaching out to the planet _while_ she worked on bending wires and scrap metal into shape had been more than a little draining. The ancient nightwatcher worms had shown her extraordinary things, and yet she couldn't avoid the crushing disappointment she felt upon realising her mother and father had left Jakku without a single trace. It made sense, when their purpose had been to hide themselves. To hide _Rey._ Not for the first time, she wondered whether her father had felt the Force as she did. If her mother had. Perhaps one or both of them had been skilled enough to erase any evidence of their presence in the Force. Either way, all that remained of her parents now were the bare bones of her memories, picked clean by the passage of time.

* * *

Once they'd seen the scavengers off, they borrowed a huge, armored luggabeast to travel out to the Goazon and set up camp in a toppled Imperial AT-AT walker. The side hatch had been welded shut, so they entered through the emergency auxiliary hatch instead. Rose looked around and saw dried nightblossoms, a handmade doll, and hundreds of scratches etched into the wall. Then it hit her.

"This is where you lived."

"Yeah. Wanted to see how it was holding up, I guess. I'm a bit surprised that no one's moved in, but most people like to be nearer to the outpost...and it _is_ kind of a weird place to call home." Rose determined a certain wistfulness in Rey's mannerisms as she picked up the doll.

"Did _you_ call it home?"

"I know it's not exactly the nicest place in the whole galaxy." She plucked a dried flower from the engine part that had served as a vase, and handed it to Rose. "But even somewhere like this, you can find beauty if you look hard enough." Rey bit her lip, as if there were more she wanted to say. Rose took the opportunity instead, looking straight into Rey's eyes.

"I'm not having to look very hard right now." The line may have been corny as hell, but the blush that spread across Rey's freckled cheeks was still _exquisite._ She moved nearer to Rose, shaking slightly.

"...I haven't really done this before."

"Kissing?" Rose asked, half-teasing, half-hopeful. Rey laughed.

"No, I mean..." She waved both hands in a haphazard gesture, and somehow Rose knew exactly what she meant, though she couldn't have put it into words either. "But...kissing sounds like a good place to start."

Rey kissed roughly, with chapped lips and too much tongue, but Rose was more than happy to help her work on that. She moaned softly as Rey's lips moved lower, dragging across her throat and catching on the cord around her neck. Rey brought her hands to Rose's collar to pull her even closer, but paused before unbuttoning her shirt.

"Is this- do you want to-" Rose started laughing, but nodded.

"You really are just _going_ for it, huh?"

"Is that a bad thing?" Rey reached beneath Rose's open shirt, to her back, and deftly unclasped her bra. Rose was impressed - she doubted _she_ could have unfastened it so quickly. Maybe that was a Force thing, too.

"No, it's not bad." She had been going to say something else, but was entirely too distracted to remember what when Rey rolled her thumb over one of her nipples, and then pushed her bra up and out of the way to suck and kiss the other one. Rose's fingers tangled in her hair, several strands now falling loose from her buns, giving a sharp tug of encouragement every now and then. She gasped as Rey's other hand slid beneath her pants, fingers lingering only briefly over coarse hair before finding their way to her slick cunt.

"Not bad at all," she panted, "especially for someone who's never…" She mimicked Rey's earlier gesture as best she could before Rey planted another kiss on her lips, much softer than before. Just as her knees threatened to buckle, Rey pressed her up against the wall and abruptly withdrew her hand. They both burst into a brief fit of laughter when they both went to finish unfastening Rose's trousers, but it wasn't long before Rey's mouth was on her, tongue tracing long, slow circles over her clit. She swore under her breath, tightly clutching Rey's hair to guide her movements, only dimly aware that Rey had begun to touch herself before she came, thighs trembling against Rey's cheeks.

* * *

Rey woke up naked, skin sticky from sweat and come, an arm still draped over Rose. They'd fallen asleep not _quite_ spooning, because it was too damn hot - while the desert cooled during the night, an AT-AT walker was almost too good at retaining the sun's warmth and she hadn't ever managed to get her hands on the right parts to install AC. It was why she'd always made a point of being outdoors during the early afternoon. Rose rolled lazily from her side to her back, giving Rey an ample eyeful.

"Enjoying the view?"

"Wishing I could enjoy it for longer," Rey sighed, "but I get the feeling we already slept in." Rose reached over to check her chrono, and her expression told Rey she was right.

"Not by too much, but we should probably, um…"

"Freshen up?" Rey had never thought she'd miss the showers on the Resistance Base so much after living without for so many years. She reached for her satchel. "I brought some flannels and towels, and I've got some dry shampoo you can use if you like." She let her own hair down, and rubbed some of the dusty powder into it, shaking it out before splashing herself with some of the bottled water she'd brought, and giving herself a quick pat down with an old, scratchy towel. It'd do. They'd both be sticky and sweaty again by the time they reached Niima Outpost, but without the earthy, sweetly sour scent of sex.

"So...what now?" she asked, watching as Rose shook the dust from her hair, a few specks catching on her breasts.

"Well, I suppose it depends on what- _oh,_ you're not talking about the solar panels, are you?" Rey fidgeted awkwardly, racking her brains for some way to backtrack if she'd broken some unspoken rule, but Rose put a comforting hand on her arm. "I like you, Rey. _Really_ like you, but I'm kind of new to this, too. Before Canto Bight and Crait and...everything, I'd not even been separated from Paige for more than a couple of days. There wasn't a lot of time for...you know." She waved her other hand between them.

 _"Making love?"_ Rey said, barely able to keep a straight face. When Rose let out an involuntary snort, they both lost it.

"For hooking up with an _insanely_ hot Jedi." Rey felt pink creeping across her cheeks again. "That happening again...is not something I'd say no to, if that's what you're asking." For the first time since they'd landed on Jakku, Rey's heart truly soared.

"Me, too. I want to give this whole _thing_ \- whatever it is - a try." Rose flashed her a smile that could light up the galaxy as she, regrettably, pulled her trousers on. "But first, we should _probably_ check that the Blobfish hasn't already started trying to ruin what we've started." Bringing up Unkar Plutt was a way to kill the mood if there ever was one.

"Well," Rose patted the blaster at her hip, "we're more than ready for him." Once Rey had fastened her goggles, she hit the hatch controls. "Lead the way."

"After you, _Lady Tico."_ Hand in hand, their laughter carrying through the Jakku winds, they stepped into the vastness of the desert, and Rey could have sworn she saw a hint of green, peeking from beneath the sand.


End file.
